At Seattle’s Temple de Hirsch Sinai, Sunday night there was a mournful gathering to respond to the election of Donald J. Trump as the next president of the United States.
The gathering was in the synagogue’s smaller chapel, in front of the big old-fashioned carved aron hakodesh, holy ark, from its old building. The Reform synagogue was founded in the heyday of Seattle’s emergence as a major city in 1889.
Women of the congregation soon began settlement work for the Eastern European Jews flooding America from east and west — many Seattle Jews came from Russia’s eastern port of Vladivostok, and via Shanghai — creating the ancestor of Seattle’s Jewish Family Service, an active social services institution for Seattle’s sick, elderly, needy, and newly arrived.
Led by Temple de Hirsch’s Rabbi Daniel Weiner, Sunday night’s post-election event was sponsored by Jewish Family Service of Seattle, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.
The gathering was indistinguishable from a funeral in tone. Its format was inspirational readings including Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King, Torah, and leaders of the community sharing how shocked and troubled they and their families have felt since Tuesday night.
A representative from Mayor Ed Murray, and state legislators attending, vowed that Seattle and Washington State will remain supportive of immigrant communities, religious minorities, and the needy, despite whatever will be designed in Washington, DC.
What was remarkable was that there was no false optimism that this was not a cataclysm for the Jewish community. It was felt as one that something dreadful has happened to America. Speakers promised the organized Jewish institutions will be in solidarity with Seattle minorities and new immigrants, amid fears for us all.
It was too soon to discuss other things that will become apparent: the meaning of Trump’s alignment with occupation, settlements and a militant Israel, at the same time as his candidacy has manifestly poisoned the American compact that had left Jews if anything too complacent in their status as a “safe” minority.
It was a remarkable moment of communing amid shock, and determination. There was no question that — for those of Seattle’s organized Jewish community — something profoundly sick and destructive has happened that will change our lives.
My pride from the meeting is that the concern was not inward to the fate of Jews, but for the fate of all that compose our Seattle. Solidarity was explicit and matter-of-fact as the expectation going forward into our unknown.
It makes sense for (Jewish) Americans to express solidarity with other Americans – incl. immigrants, religious communities and minorities – and not with an oppressive, colonialist, (war) criminal and religion-supremacist country in the Middle East.
Hateful and immoral Zio-supremacists do American (and other) Jews no favours by conflating Israel with all Jews and all Jews with Israel.
It is scary to see that those in control in the US can possibly become a beacon of hate for the people considered ‘other’ as one finds is the case in Israel.
But maybe the vision of Israel as a beacon of light, will be exposed and help us prevent the shameful treatment of any minority from happening here.
I am sorry people are in fear. Maybe the fear is one of not being in control of the dialogue. Let us hope opening up the dialogue might liberate us all. Thank you MW for your continuing efforts..
When my left wing cousin in israel refers to the trump phenomenon as a symptom of sickness, I concurred. When I erupted at my rosh hashana hosts and broke into hebrew and said trump is the most dangerous candidate of a major party in my lifetime, I do not question the emotion.
What do we do now?
(Some have taken to the streets and declared, he’s not my president. Americans know this rhetoric from secessionists in 1860, and so we can discern street rhetoric from reality. Big city dwellers in chicago nyc and LA, our vote doesn’t count as much as the farmer in Montana and resentment at the lack of one man one vote is natural. The odds against a constitutional amendment is long, but the people in the US should be reminded that they are undemocratic in the current constitution. )
The dangers of trump domestically can be divided into 3: a. republican, b. Trump policies and c. Trump rhetoric (leadership )
A Republican of any sort would cut taxes and rein in obamacare. Democrats would oppose such changes. That’s nothing new.
The innovations in policy are primarily anti Mexican (south of the border) immigrants and anti muslim. Part of this is rhetoric and part is policy. Enforcing the law regarding illegal immigrants, particularly deporting illegals that have been convicted of a crime, is certainly within mainstream parameters. Building a fence or a wall, seems like a waste of energy and money. Immigration cops invading nyc and stopping all hispanics to check their papers isn’t going to happen, but everyone knows their own community and can imagine abuses by El federale or the cops, that seem like something to fear.
The issue of Muslim immigrants is the biggest unknown. And face it: a San Bernardino is just a question of time and an incident would be the primary occasion for policy changes and rhetorical flourishes.
Steve bannon, specifically the antisemitic tunes that he and his ilk have now brought into the white house will not be a major part of the story. This is most true regarding policy for there is no domestic Jewish or anti Jewish policy proposal that I have heard offered in earnest. There will be anti media and anti Hollywood rhetoric and if chuck schumer becomes minority leader there will be his ethnicity to hook onto, but in terms of policy I can’t think of anything that threatens.
The nature of the man is authoritarian, with a willingness to rile up the crowds.
Abba
So, readings included Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King, but they did not include Susan Abulhawa?
If not I wonder what the “mournful gathering” was all about.
ABBA SOLOMON- “What was remarkable was that there was no false optimism that this was not a cataclysm for the Jewish community.”
A cataclysm for the Jewish community? Paranoia strikes deep, into your heart it will creep.